Peter Gilliver
@petermgilliver.bsky.social
Word person; tenor; European; British; English (Northern, and not a monkey); blissfully partnered; some other things. Views my own.
Shocking.
I wish I didn’t have to share this. But the BBC has decided to censor my first Reith Lecture.
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
November 25, 2025 at 10:41 AM
Shocking.
I know a lot of people like this sort of thing, so for those who like this sort of thing, here it is. corp.oup.com/word-of-the-...
Oxford Word of the Year 2025 - Oxford University Press
Voting is now open for Oxford Word of the Year 2025! Discover our shortlist and have your say by Thursday 27 November.
corp.oup.com
November 25, 2025 at 8:48 AM
I know a lot of people like this sort of thing, so for those who like this sort of thing, here it is. corp.oup.com/word-of-the-...
Gustave Adolphe Schrumpf (1844–92) is my latest #OEDMaker, and here’s a piece about him. Also available on Facebook to @DictionarySocNA members and at themakersoftheoed.wordpress.com/the-editors-...
November 21, 2025 at 8:29 PM
Gustave Adolphe Schrumpf (1844–92) is my latest #OEDMaker, and here’s a piece about him. Also available on Facebook to @DictionarySocNA members and at themakersoftheoed.wordpress.com/the-editors-...
William Gee (1836–98) is my latest #OEDMaker, and here’s a piece about him (a substantial update of something I wrote two years ago). Also available on Facebook to @DictionarySocNA members and at themakersoftheoed.wordpress.com/the-editors-...
November 14, 2025 at 8:11 PM
William Gee (1836–98) is my latest #OEDMaker, and here’s a piece about him (a substantial update of something I wrote two years ago). Also available on Facebook to @DictionarySocNA members and at themakersoftheoed.wordpress.com/the-editors-...
Reposted by Peter Gilliver
This is a great essay and going to be a HUGE big deal game changer for the early modernists interested in genre, form, etc.
November 10, 2025 at 9:19 AM
This is a great essay and going to be a HUGE big deal game changer for the early modernists interested in genre, form, etc.
Shocking if true. No, really: it would be shocking if this were true. And if it is, what can anyone do to avert it?
I am hearing that @uniofnottingham.bsky.social is suspending (i.e shutting down) *all modern language courses* in 2026-27. One of the largest departments in the UK. A shocking short sighted move that damages regional and national prospects @britishacademy.bsky.social @hetanshah.bsky.social
November 6, 2025 at 2:16 PM
Shocking if true. No, really: it would be shocking if this were true. And if it is, what can anyone do to avert it?
November 5, 2025 at 12:41 PM
Robert Backhouse Peacock (1813–64) is my latest #OEDMaker, and here’s a piece about him. Also available on Facebook to @DictionarySocNA members and at themakersoftheoed.wordpress.com/the-quotatio...
November 2, 2025 at 6:01 PM
Robert Backhouse Peacock (1813–64) is my latest #OEDMaker, and here’s a piece about him. Also available on Facebook to @DictionarySocNA members and at themakersoftheoed.wordpress.com/the-quotatio...
Wendell Phillips Garrison (1840–1907) is my latest #OEDMaker, and here’s a piece about him. Also available on Facebook to @DictionarySocNA members and at themakersoftheoed.wordpress.com/miscellaneou...
October 31, 2025 at 6:28 PM
Wendell Phillips Garrison (1840–1907) is my latest #OEDMaker, and here’s a piece about him. Also available on Facebook to @DictionarySocNA members and at themakersoftheoed.wordpress.com/miscellaneou...
Spare a thought today for those coming to terms with the fact that a sibling or other family member is guilty, or even merely said to be guilty, of an abusive sexual offence. And even—go on, I dare you—for…
October 31, 2025 at 9:13 AM
Spare a thought today for those coming to terms with the fact that a sibling or other family member is guilty, or even merely said to be guilty, of an abusive sexual offence. And even—go on, I dare you—for…
Reposted by Peter Gilliver
Today, an estimated 1.6 million Ukrainian children remain in territories occupied by Russia. Cut off from Ukraine's education system, they are exposed daily to Russian propaganda, militarization, and pressure to abandon their national identity.
October 26, 2025 at 11:16 AM
Today, an estimated 1.6 million Ukrainian children remain in territories occupied by Russia. Cut off from Ukraine's education system, they are exposed daily to Russian propaganda, militarization, and pressure to abandon their national identity.
Charles Gray (1834–1915) is my latest #OEDMaker, and here’s a piece about him. Also available on Facebook to @DictionarySocNA members and at themakersoftheoed.wordpress.com/the-quotatio...
October 25, 2025 at 5:27 PM
Charles Gray (1834–1915) is my latest #OEDMaker, and here’s a piece about him. Also available on Facebook to @DictionarySocNA members and at themakersoftheoed.wordpress.com/the-quotatio...
No words.
Leavitt: "At this moment in time, of course, the ballroom is really the president's main priority."
October 23, 2025 at 6:21 PM
No words.
Reposted by Peter Gilliver
a live look at the demolition of the White House's East Wing for Trump's ballroom
October 22, 2025 at 5:04 PM
a live look at the demolition of the White House's East Wing for Trump's ballroom
There is indeed much trouble at the white house.
The OED first cites “White House” for the US president's residence in 1811.
But its citation from a letter by Abijah Bigelow, a Massachusetts Federalist congressman, in 1812 really stands out right now:
But its citation from a letter by Abijah Bigelow, a Massachusetts Federalist congressman, in 1812 really stands out right now:
October 21, 2025 at 12:59 PM
There is indeed much trouble at the white house.
Prudence Elizabeth Frances Walter (1859–1941) is my latest #OEDMaker, and here’s a brief piece about her. Also available on Facebook to @DictionarySocNA members and at themakersoftheoed.wordpress.com/the-quotatio...
October 19, 2025 at 6:07 PM
Prudence Elizabeth Frances Walter (1859–1941) is my latest #OEDMaker, and here’s a brief piece about her. Also available on Facebook to @DictionarySocNA members and at themakersoftheoed.wordpress.com/the-quotatio...
Cornelius Paine (1809–90) is my latest #OEDMaker, and here’s a piece about him. Also available on Facebook to @DictionarySocNA members and at themakersoftheoed.wordpress.com/the-quotatio...
October 17, 2025 at 6:27 PM
Cornelius Paine (1809–90) is my latest #OEDMaker, and here’s a piece about him. Also available on Facebook to @DictionarySocNA members and at themakersoftheoed.wordpress.com/the-quotatio...
Margaret Haig (later Stuart) (1860–1933) is my latest #OEDMaker, and here’s a piece about her. Also available on Facebook to @DictionarySocNA members and at themakersoftheoed.wordpress.com/the-editors-...
October 11, 2025 at 4:45 PM
Margaret Haig (later Stuart) (1860–1933) is my latest #OEDMaker, and here’s a piece about her. Also available on Facebook to @DictionarySocNA members and at themakersoftheoed.wordpress.com/the-editors-...
Most interesting. Puts me in mind of another former #OED assistant—and motorphobe—whom Tolkien may have known, though they didn’t work alongside each other: themakersoftheoed.wordpress.com/the-editors-... And then, rather differently, there’s also…
To mark the publication of Tolkien's Bovadium Fragments, join me as I explore the background to his satire on the motor-car and Oxford…
#tolkien #oxford #bovadium
tinyurl.com/tolkienmotors
#tolkien #oxford #bovadium
tinyurl.com/tolkienmotors
‘Mounted on the monster’: Tolkien and the motor-car
To mark the publication of The Bovadium Fragments, let’s explore the background to Tolkien’s satire on the motor-car and Oxford…
tinyurl.com
October 11, 2025 at 4:09 PM
Most interesting. Puts me in mind of another former #OED assistant—and motorphobe—whom Tolkien may have known, though they didn’t work alongside each other: themakersoftheoed.wordpress.com/the-editors-... And then, rather differently, there’s also…
The elusive H. S. Bhide is my latest #OEDMaker, and here’s a piece about him. Also available on Facebook to @DictionarySocNA members and at themakersoftheoed.wordpress.com/miscellaneou...
October 7, 2025 at 7:56 PM
The elusive H. S. Bhide is my latest #OEDMaker, and here’s a piece about him. Also available on Facebook to @DictionarySocNA members and at themakersoftheoed.wordpress.com/miscellaneou...
And 10 months later it's grown considerably: over 150 names featured, many of them with (I'd say) fascinating lives. Please take a look—try picking a name at random—and share/link to the website if you know anyone interested in the #OED or its history. (Yes, I'm autotrombating again.)
Time to put out a reminder, and a plea, about my—still v rudimentary—website for pieces about @OED people: themakersoftheoed.wordpress.com
The reminder: it exists, and is steadily growing (currently c.40 articles).
The plea: please let everyone know about it who you think would be interested.
The reminder: it exists, and is steadily growing (currently c.40 articles).
The plea: please let everyone know about it who you think would be interested.
The Makers of the Oxford English Dictionary
An experimental site for my writing about the people who created the Oxford English Dictionary.
themakersoftheoed.wordpress.com
October 3, 2025 at 3:53 PM
And 10 months later it's grown considerably: over 150 names featured, many of them with (I'd say) fascinating lives. Please take a look—try picking a name at random—and share/link to the website if you know anyone interested in the #OED or its history. (Yes, I'm autotrombating again.)
William Henry Fox Talbot (1800–77) is my latest #OEDMaker—sort of—and here’s a piece about him. Also available on Facebook to @DictionarySocNA members and at themakersoftheoed.wordpress.com/miscellaneou...
October 3, 2025 at 1:42 PM
William Henry Fox Talbot (1800–77) is my latest #OEDMaker—sort of—and here’s a piece about him. Also available on Facebook to @DictionarySocNA members and at themakersoftheoed.wordpress.com/miscellaneou...
I just donated. If you love cathedral music, or choral music, or both—and I know many of you do—please join me, Aled Jones, Rhiannon Mathias, and the dozens of others who have done likewise. We're nearly at the target!
www.gofundme.com/f/save-bango...
www.gofundme.com/f/save-bango...
Donate to Save Bangor Cathedral Choir - Achubwch Côr Cadeirlan Bangor, organized by Simon Ogdon
[Fersiwn Gymraeg isod]
Bangor Cathedral has been through a… Simon Ogdon needs your support for Save Bangor Cathedral Choir - Achubwch Côr Cadeirlan Bangor
www.gofundme.com
October 1, 2025 at 3:07 PM
I just donated. If you love cathedral music, or choral music, or both—and I know many of you do—please join me, Aled Jones, Rhiannon Mathias, and the dozens of others who have done likewise. We're nearly at the target!
www.gofundme.com/f/save-bango...
www.gofundme.com/f/save-bango...
I guess I should share this, as I'm in it. On the other hand, if you read it and don't think you'll be interested in the conversations with any of the other lexicographers in the book, then you're that much less likely to buy the book. But what the hell.
lithub.com/how-to-build...
lithub.com/how-to-build...
How to Build a Dictionary: On the Hard Art of Popular Lexicography
At the end of the first quarter of the twenty-first century, about 400 million people are native English speakers. With those for whom English is a second language, the number reaches far above: betw…
lithub.com
September 29, 2025 at 6:13 PM
I guess I should share this, as I'm in it. On the other hand, if you read it and don't think you'll be interested in the conversations with any of the other lexicographers in the book, then you're that much less likely to buy the book. But what the hell.
lithub.com/how-to-build...
lithub.com/how-to-build...